Zootopia: Mammals of the Atom
by Drongs2.0
Summary: It all started as a case to protect the city from a string of crimes, but when things get too tough, Judy and Nick will receive help from the most unusual of sources. Through mysteries, carnage, and bloodshed. One thing is for certain. The city of Zootopia will never be the same.
1. Uncanny Beginnings

**Zootopia: Mammals of the Atom**

 **Chapter 1: Uncanny Beginnings**

Zootopia; a bustling city filled with a magnitude of different species of mammals from around the world. A city of frequent amazement within its walls that helps give mammals the opportunities to allow them seek their dreams to become anything; as well as being home to many unique districts made to support certain mammals environmental needs. Within the heart of the downtown area of Savanna Central was home to two extraordinary mammals charged to protect the city they love.

A no nonsense bunny named Judy Hopps and her partner, a sharp as a tack fox by the name of Nick Wilde. The first of their species to join the ZPD, these two were able to accomplish what many once thought was impossible. Two small mammals: once thought to be meek and frail, and the other to be sneaky and unreliable, ended up being two of the best cops the city has ever known. Together they were able to rise up against the stereotypes set against their species and save the city from a conspiracy to set prey against pred mammals.

As of now the pair were at Precinct One of the ZPD; making their way towards what was know as the Bullpen, in order to be briefed on their next assignment. Both sat at the front desk attentively waiting on the Chief of ZPD a water buffalo named Bogo. Once he had arrived all the other officers began chanting his name as he made his way to the podium at the front of the

"Alright." Bogo said to silence his fellow officers to no avail, "Enough." the chanting still continued, "Quiet!" once the room finally calmed down, Bogo cleared his throat before pulling out his folder, "Now I hate to say this but another shop was set ablaze last night; this time an exotic pred café within the Rainforest district. Luckily there were no reported casualty, but the owners have refused to come forward with what would cause the fire. That and our forensic experts believe that there is most likely another victim of a protection racket ran by a new player in the mafia game. This is a priority one case people. Our citizens are scared that their shops will be next, and City Hall is breathing down my tail for some answers." one by one Bogo assigned each of his officers a district to look into on the matter, "Hopps, Wilde Savanna Square."

With that the two officers made their way to the streets to begin their investigation. The first stop was the chard remains of a furniture store once owned by a pair of alpacas. The place was one of the first establishments to be targeted. At first the police believed the act to be caused by a simple arson perhaps by a disgruntled and disturbed customer. The owner unwillingness to cooperate with authorities caused suspicions to be put on them. That was until a string of similar events occurred across Zootopia. Judy believed that after the recent attack that the owners would come forward with leads to the case. Leaving Nick in the car while she attempted her questioning until her return.

"So Carrots, how'd it go?" Nick asked as Judy re-entered the vehicle.

"Not as I hoped." Judy started up the cruiser, "Whoever is responsible for this still has those two spooked. You don't think it maybe Mr. Big?"

"Really? For this?"

"Well I mean Mr. Big is the only one we know with mafia connection, and we don't really have any other leads to go on."

"No it's not his style. Most of the shops Mr. Big has a hold of he's legally co-owns and treats all his investors, such as Mr. Otterton, like family." Judy gave Nick a quizzical look. "Take it from the guy who used to work for him, he'd never resort to this. It'd put to much unwanted attention on him."

Judy preceded to put the cruiser in drive. "Okay slick then what do you suppose we look for clues?"

Nick gave Judy a smirk, "I know a guy who keeps his ears open for what's going on around in the back alleys of this city." the two drove off to meet Nick's contact and they soon arrived at a thrift store.

"Nick I agree you need new clothes, but this is serious."

"Oh ha ha. Trust me on this Carrots." Nick responded has they both exit the vehicle and entered the store.

Inside they were met with small packs of mammals big and small loitering around various items the store had to offer. Judy and Nick's sights however were set on the checkout counter. There sat a fennec fox by the name of Finnick. Though small in size the fox had quite a knack of getting in trouble and used to be Nick's partner in crime before Judy came into the city. Ever since the bunny made a cop out of Nick, Finnick was convinced to also go the straight and narrow. Now days he runs this particular thrift store in the downtown area.

"Well look what we have." said Finnick noticing them approaching the register, "So what brings Zootopia's two favorite cops to my store? If it involves any criminal activities involving me, I assure you I'm being framed."

"Don't worry Finnick old buddy; we know you keep your nose out of that sort of stuff." Nick replied with a sly grin, "Less you want to incur the wrath of your girlfriend."

"How is Britannia doing by the way?" asked Judy.

"She's doing fine." Finnick responded, "So then what brings you here? Is Nick finally decided to get new clothes?"

"Ha ha yeah you both are real comedians." Nick said under his breath as Judy just chuckled, "No we need help on a case we're working on."

"A series of arson's have struck the city that maybe connected to a supposed new mob faction in town." Judy interjected, "Nick says you might have some insight that might push us in the right direction."

"Nope can't help ya." Finnick answered, "You said it yourself I keep myself out of that sort of trouble."

Nick gave his friend another sly grin. "Yeah your nose may be clean, but I for one, know those big ears of yours love to collect some dirt."

"Besides not giving us something to help us when you could would be considered withholding evidence which would also be obstruction of justice." Judy interjected again, "Which is kind of a big deal and can land you into some hot water."

"Sure go ahead with that; not like you have anything on me." Finnick smirked while crossing his arms, "Unless you want to embarrass yourselves by dragging someone in charge of a charitable business to jail without probable cause."

On that moment Judy's ears went down, "Yeah you're right. Without evidence we'd just be wasting our time and humiliate ourselves and the force altogether." then immediately her ears popped back up, "However if Britannia by any chance found out about you withholding evidence, no matter how little, she'd be fuming through her ears."

Finnick was preparing to retort till Nick cut him off, "You and I both know she'd do it."

"Now what was her number again?" Judy said while tapping her chin in a mocking fashion. That was until she began chuckling, "Oh I'm kidding I have her on speed dial." Judy brought out her phone and started fiddling with the screen.

For Finnick this was too much to handle, "Alright I'll talk; just please put that thing away and keep Britannia out of this." Judy honored his request and put her phone back in her pocket, "Just so you know you didn't hear this from me." Finnick turned his gaze throughout the store to make sure no one was listening in before motioning Judy and Nick closer so he may whisper, "You ain't too far off about that new mob thing. Word has it there's a new player in the game and whoever he is he's making his way to the top faster than most. It's said this whole protection racket is a way to move in on Mr. Big's territory."

"Surly Mr. Big won't take kindly to that." Judy responded.

"No duh about that. Might as well cause a mob war in the city."

Nick simply snorted, "Guy must be very bold, or very stupid to try and take on Mr. Big."

"Either way a mob war is the last thing this city needs right now." Judy made her way to the door, "Come on Nick we should report back what we know to Bogo."

"Thank you buddy I owe you one." Nick said as he followed Judy out.

"Guy owes me twelve." as Finnick got back to work unbeknownst to him a panther and wolf were glancing his way. The panther motioned to the wolf outside to relay what they had heard.

Back with Judy and Nick the two returned to their police cruise. The two first, thanks to some persuasion by Nick, decided to pick up some coffee before calling up the chief. Nick believed they earned it for a job well done. Judy didn't mind the quick break from driving through the city; however she was eager to report back Bogo as soon as possible.

"That's all we have for now chief." Judy said relaying the information they received over the radio.

Through the radio could be heard chief Bogo giving a hefty sigh. "After the nighthowler incident a mob war is the last thing we need on our hands."

"Sorry we couldn't get anyone else to tell us who's behind this."

"Don't beat yourself up Hopps. You did what you could." Bogo reassured her, "Least we have an idea of what we're up against, and hopefully you managed to get Wilde some new clothes. Over and out."

Nick simply let out a sigh. "Okay serious talk what is it with you guys and my clothes?"

"Do you see what you wear while off duty?" Judy replied while taking a sip of coffee "Serious your love for Hawaiian shirt and bow ties it makes you look like a tourist."

"Not my fault none of you understand my unique sense of fashion."

"Almost makes me forget you're the son of a tailor." Judy took another sip of coffee until a drop of water hit the windshield. Soon the drops picked up till it turned into a full on rain storm "Strange the weather called for clear skies."

From there Judy flipped on the radio and turned back to the proper station. Once set, the first thing that could be heard was a series of beeps indicating a weather advisory followed by the announcer, "This is the Zootopia weather report. There is a sudden severe thunderstorm warning in effect from now till… um till further notice. Citizens are advised to take shelter until the storm passes."

Second by second the storm only got worse and worse. Turbulent winds crashed through the streets almost blowing away any unsuspecting small mammals. Freak lightning brightened up the cloudy skies followed by roaring thunder. Any mammal outside made headway into the nearest indoor area they can reach; while those in vehicles did their best to drive home safely.

"Looks like that case is gonna have to take a backseat for tomorrow." said Nick as Judy started up the cruiser.

"Just weird this storm came out of nowhere."

The rabbit had no idea how right she was as she and Nick drove off. The storm itself was not a natural phenomena of this earth. It's creation of supernatural forces the result of worlds crashing through the fabrics of reality. Remnants and debris of these worlds being pulled apart and reassemble by means beyond the understanding of mortal beings. One such debris was engulfed within lightening as it struck down a small park in the downtown area. Hitting the ground with the sound of a small bomb crackling through the air leaving a smoldering crater where it hit. Inches outside laid what appeared to be a pair metal claws before moving back to the crater; sheathing themselves into the confines of a completely bald hand. Slowly this new creature staggered up from the crater unaware of how they would change Zootopia forever.

 **End of Chapter 1**

 **A/N:** Well everyone this is my first story after being away for so many years. Hope you all enjoyed it, and don't forget to send your feedback. Till next time.


	2. First Class Encounter

**Zootopia: Mammals of the Atom**

 **Chapter 2: First Class Encounter**

Water; that's all that could be felt hitting the creature's bare flesh. It had no idea how long it has been out, but it was long enough to be completely soaked to the bone. Sure being what it was had certain benefits to not be affected by diseases that came with such weather like malaria, but it didn't mean being both wet and cold were any less of a pain. So the creature made it's attempt to slowly move from where it laid; made hard by how sore it's body felt all over. Luckily that'll all go away soon enough. It never did feel soon enough though. It got up to it's knees to look over it's surroundings. At first it had wondered was if it was back in New York, but that couldn't be. What little could be seen through the rain let it know that the street placement with the building structures, and size of some, didn't match any street corner in the city it knew. How it got here had to wait though; it needed to find shelter from the storm.

Once this mysterious being got on it's feet it wandered through the baron streets of this foreign city in hopes to find a building that was open for it. Only when walking did it notice the harsh winds blowing through the rips and tears within it's suit. Must've been in a fight of some sort, but with who it could not remember. There were a lot of people who wanted this creature and it's friends dead by any means. Apocalypse could've made a comeback again, or Magneto could've went nuts again, maybe one of many anti-mutant militia, or perhaps some cosmic entity... that was it! It remembered now: crisis in New York, planet appearing in the sky, everyone panicking, everything going white, and... the world ended. At least that's what was assumed to of happened after everything had failed, but the world around it seemed fine if not alien to it. Whatever had happened to it would have to wait as the creature spotted a building that still had some amount of lights on, and proceed forward to it.

Within said building was the small fennec fox, Finnick rummaged through the items of his store; setting things up well for tomorrow. He would've been home by now, but sadly the storm picked up way too fast as he took storage for the shop. Now that he was stuck here he decided to get some extra work done to pass the time. Not that it worked since the storm showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Luckily he had the foresight to have parked his van in the back alley near the shop's back entrance before work. Sure it had a good setup to spend the night in, but it didn't make him any less ticked to be stuck there the night.

"Damn weather mammals can't even tell when it's gonna rain." Finnick grumbled to himself as he sorted through things thinking about his girlfriend, "Girl's gonna get me an ear full tomorrow I just know it."

Finnick was just about ready to head in for the day when he heard a knock on the glass door of the shop. The tiny fox just sighed to himself. Couldn't whoever was out there tell that they we're closing soon? In fact second question what kind of idiot would be traveling through the city in this kind of weather? However Finnick knew that he couldn't just leave to let whoever is out there to handle the storm like this. Sure he could be a jerk at times, but he wasn't that much of a jerk. So he made his way to the door to open it for whoever was outside.

"Okay dumb, dumb what brings you to my shop in this kind of weathe..." Finnick stopped in his track when he saw what was outside. What stood in front of the door was a tall yet scrawny creature he had never seen before. Whatever it was gave him pause.

"Well..." it said with a weak voice, "...are you just going to stand there, or are you going to let me in Pipsqueak?"

Getting over his hesitation, Finnick made his way to the door to open it to this stranger. Once done the creature quickly made it's way inside; thankful to finally be in someplace warm and dry. It didn't mind the fact that the one who allowed it passage was a small fox that barely came up half way to it's knee. After all seeing an anthropomorphic animal was nothing new for it to see. Remembering that one time it encountered a talking raccoon and tree from space. If it didn't know any better it would've called this place the raccoon's home planet; if the look of the area so far didn't indicate they didn't have the capability of space travel were on par with it's earth.

"Thanks." was all it could muster as it's body began to shiver away the remaining cold from itself.

"No problem." Finnick responded while trying to trying to find the guts to say more it this very odd being in front of him, "…So um…" he coughed, _'Just don't say something stupid. You have no idea what this thing is capable of.' he thought,_ "…So yeah… you're lucky to have stumble on a charitable business, so we pride ourselves on helping others. Even animals as freaky looking as you." 'Damnit!' he kicked himself for that one.

The creature let out a low growl with that remark. However it's attention was taken by how much water that dripped from it's body, "Do you have a towel?" it asked.

Not to accidentally offend this strange again, Finnick just gave it a nod and ran over to give it one. For the next few minutes all he did was sit at the checkout counter; watching as the being in front of him dried itself off. He just couldn't get over just how freaky this thing looked to him. It had little to no sign of fur on it's body; except a long mane going down from it's head. It wore an odd get up of what appeared to be a one piece suit, or maybe two pieces connected at the waist for all he knew. The colors were an odd choice being white and black with some orange covering some padded areas along it, and judging by how badly it was torn up showed that it got itself in quite the pickle before it came to his shop. Once it was done with drying out it's hair it threw the towel around it's shoulders showing that it was done as it turned back to Finnick.

"Thanks for that." it said only to notice that Finnick was staring, "Something wrong Pipsqueak, or does my appearance still freak you out."

That was enough to snap him out of it, "Not like you can blame me. Not everyday someone around here sees a… whatever you are Baldy."

The creature growled again from that, "What are you a professional asshole, or did I catch you on a bad day?"

Finnick almost busted out laughing from that. Whatever this creature was he liked it, "Well seeing how that storm has me stuck here; I'd say it's a bit of both."

"Well then I guess I have enough time to get your question out of the way. For your information I'm human."

"Yeah... no idea what that is." Finnick replied, "Guess that means you ain't from around these parts eh Baldy?"

"Stop calling me Baldy." the creature growled back.

"Yeah well I don't like being called Pipsqueak, so I guess that makes us even." Finnick sighed to himself knowing there was one way around these stupid nicknames, "I guess that means we should at least introduce ourselves if we wanna get away from this." he cleared his throat so he could be the first to do so, "Names Finnick. It ain't Pipsqueak, sure ain't Smallfry, or any other small related nicknames. Just Finnick, and you are?"

The creature was hesitant to give this Finnick such an answer. Even with the kindness he showed, it always felt that the least amount of people that were close the better. Though it guessed he deserved some kind of an answer. Something to help satisfy his curiosity.

"My name is... is X-23."

* * *

 _Somewhere unknown_

From within the confines of an old warehouse some things were being plotted. The building itself was littered with many different mammals of various sizes, but most of which were the size of wolves or large cats. Inside many of these animals were organizing what they made from the days earnings. The money they sift through came from shop and business that were already under their collective paws and hooves. Said money will go great with funding their enterprise for future endeavor they had planned. Some of these mammals were preparing for routine combat training exercise. Rather it be firearm or hand to hand; all were necessary for what was to come. On high was the one who was orchestrating whole lot of them.

Inside of the office stood the mammal in charge of the whole operation. Upon this room he surveyed all of the goings on in the entire building. His desk cluttered with an assortment of maps, files, and tools for the mission that he had in store. So far from what he could gather no one knew of him or of his organization's existence, and those on the outside who did, knew to keep their mouths shut. That is if they wanted to face the consequences of such boldness. Which is what he didn't want to hear when two of his associates, a wolf and panther, came in to meet with him.

"What do you have for me today gentlemen?"

The two weren't particularly happy to be reporting anything that would be considered bad news to their boss. However they knew things would be a lot worse if they said nothing at all. He demonstrated what would happen to a small few who tried to go against his authority. To make it short there wasn't much left of the poor mammal's face when they were done cleaning the remains off the floor.

"Boss we hate to inform you this, but we have reason to believe someone is going against us behind our backs." the panther told him.

Their boss took his attention away from the window overlooking the warehouse to face the two, "What?"

The wolf's tail was practically between his legs when hearing his boss's low tone. "A fennec fox; he owns a thrift store in the downtown area. We caught him talking with the police."

Their boss growled, "What do they know?"

"Enough to know that we exist." the panther answered, "There's more." they noticed their boss tighten his grip on the desk, "The cops that he was talking to are officer Hopps and Wilde, Sir."

Their Boss's growls only intensified, "I see." the boss took a deep breath before sitting on the chair behind the desk, "Someone isn't taking us seriously today. By next night I want you to go back to that shop and deal with him."

The two mammals nodded and left their boss to prepare for their encounter with the thrift shop. Leaving their boss to ponder their next move. Though this news did have him a bit on edge. If the first rabbit and fox officers had even a small amount of a hint of what he was up to; then it was only a matter of time before 'He' finds out he was still around. Perhaps it was about time to move up the time table on the plan.

* * *

Laura believed she was a person who would be ready for pretty much anything that was thrown her way. However being sent to another world in where she'd be in a shop with a small talking/cackling fox was not something one easily prepared for. Not long after telling Finnick her codename he started laughing his head off. For the last few minutes it's been practically nonstop; with him taking a break to breath only to start up again. Laura felt the urge to shut him up via claws pointed inches away from his throat, but that was the old her. Current her was a lot more patient and cool headed; for the most part.

"Are you done yet?"

Finnick answered her question with a nod, "I'm sorry it's just your name… X-23 right?" Finnick snickered slightly when he asked with Laura answering with a nod, "It's that it sounds like…" snicker, "… it sounds like a rejected energy drink from the nineties." Finnick could no longer contain himself and bust out laughing again.

Laura groaned at how annoying this was getting, "It's not that funny."

"Yes it is!" Finnick replied with signs that he was finally calming down, "Mostly cause it don't take a genius to figure out that, that ain't no name!" he now got serious with that remark, "That is a letter and a number. What do you go by X, or is it miss 23? Ain't no one give a kid that name less they hate them or something."

He wasn't entirely wrong with that statement, but in order to get him off her back she knew what needed to be done, "My real name is Laura." she answered with a sigh, "Laura Kinney."

"Laura?" Finnick pondered on that, "Guess that name is normal enough. But what's up with that other stupid name you tried going by?"

"It's a long story, and it's one I rather not go into with you."

Finnick just shrugged at this response. Upon looking her over again though only one thing came over his mind, "No offence though but looks like you could use new clothes." Laura looked over her torn up suite, "Don't know what you been through, but those things look like you had one hell of a throw down."

"You don't know the half of it." she whispered under her breath.

Finnick sighed to himself before continuing, "Well… I guess I could offer you some spare ones on the house." Laura gave him quizzical look, "I told ya this is a charitable business. Just pick something before I come to my senses."

So Laura made her way around the shop in order to find something that caught her eye. Finnick keeping an eye on her making sure she didn't take anything other than the clothes he offered. Satisfied with what she had picked out she made her way to the dressing room nearby. After a few moments in there trying out different pair of clothes did she came out sporting a whole new getup that felt the most comfortable to her. Now she sported a black-leather jacket with a red shirt with a picture of a rock band featuring wolves underneath; as well as an old pair of jeans that clearly had it's colors nearly worn out. Footwear was the difficult part with most of them that fit her were missing the front half meant for the predators paw pads. It took awhile but she found a pair that felt okay with her; however having half of her feet exposed felt odd.

"Eh… I guess you look okay enough." Finnick complemented.

Laura growled at that until she noticed it was still coming down hard outside, "Any idea when that's suppose to stop?"

"No idea according to the weather mammals. Don't suppose you have anywhere to stay?" Laura answered him with a look that said it all, "Yeah you're right that was a dumb question. You know… there's a couch in the office that could fit you. Case you're interested."

"You sure you're okay with a 'freak' like me sleeping on it?"

"Oh yeah I'll just burn it when you're done." that earned him a scowl, "I'm joking; jeez you're grim. Anyway I'll be out back in my van if you need anything, and don't break anything."

After that, Finnick left via the back entrance leaving Laura by herself. She really had no idea what to make of the small fox. On one hand he was completely generous for allowing such accommodation, and other times he seemed content with pissing her off. Though she did know it would be wise to take advantage of the situation that allowed her to stay someplace with roof overhead. So she made her way to the office room to get some well needed sleep; with the belief that things would only get more wild by morning on this strange world.

 **End of Chapter 2**

 **A/N:** Well here is chapter two for this fic. I'm sure some people probably expected Wolverine since he is the most popular character, but I feel that X-23 would fit best as a term to help grow into her own. In case some of you didn't catch it; in terms of the Marvel universe this story takes place after the events that lead up to Secret Wars (2015). Anyway I hope you guys enjoy and don't forget to leave a review. Till next time.


	3. The Best There Is

**Zootopia: Mammals of the Atom**

 **Chapter 3: The Best There Is**

Something was poking her she knew that much. It annoyed her greatly. Last thing Laura knew was how grateful she was to get some sleep on the both small and hard couch she was offered last night. She had tossed and turned throughout the night in order to find the right position for her to sleep. But now someone had the gull to disturb her after all of her night's effort. She swatted whatever it was in hopes that whatever it was would get the message and leave her alone. However it continued and it was starting to really bug her. Without lifting her head she grabbed what was poking her and threw it as far as possible given the position she was in.

At last it stopped and now she could get some decent sleep. That is until water was thrown on her head. That was the last straw. Whoever this was had another thing coming to them. Laura got up with the desire to pop the claws out and make this person die a horrible painful death. When she lifted her head all she could see was the fox Finnick with an empty glass in his hand, and a very annoyed look on his face.

"Bout time you got up, girl."

Laura gave the fox a low growl before looking at what she ended up throwing, "You were poking me with a coat hanger?"

"What? I don't how you react to being woken up." Finnick shrugged at his response, "For all I know you would rip my head off."

Laura gave him a huff, "It's not a bad idea now that you bring it up."

"Well it was either that or let ya sleep all day; oh and here." Finnick then tossed her a yellow and black hoodie and scarf, "It's a full rush today, and since no one seen someone like ya I think it help you from being gawked at." Laura picked up the article of clothing believing the fox's good intentions, "Plus it will keep ya from scaring off my customers." and that belief was gone as he left.

Laura sat there on the couch for a few minutes before making the decision to put the clothes on with the inclusion of what she already had. She could've stayed in the office for as long as she wanted, but there was a sense of boredom that would overcome her if she did. Also as much as she hated to admit it she did want to see more of this world despite sticking out like a sore thumb. Even with the added protection to her identity she was given she doubted there'll be anyone but her hiding their face as much.

Exiting the office and entering to the main store, Laura was able to see that Finnick was true to his words. The building was packed on this particular day; filling it with a wide assortment of mammals. Yep this felt as odd as she thought it would be, and she'd been to a part of her world which still had living dinosaurs. Upon hearing a cough she turned to see Finnick waiting for her next to the door.

"Don't worry about a thing kid; any mammal ask just tell them you have a skin condition. Ain't that hard to believe really." this earned him a glare from Laura, "Or give them that death glare you're doing right now. That'll turn some mammals off."

Finnick left her there so he could excuse another mammal from the counter and take his place. This left Laura to her own devices. So she took the time to simply explore the shop that she stayed the night at. The tour itself lasted a lot shorter then she had hoped to imagined. The only highlights being the way the other animals in the store reacted to her. Some did pay her no mind, but being the only one fully hiding their face drew some attention. Many of which believing she was some sort of thief going through the shop. Those with children pulled them close believing she had some sort of contagious disease. Oh well she could care less. She was only stuck here until she could get more information about this place from Finnick. Not wanting to wonder through this alien city blind.

That's when she saw it. A male pig with a very thick looking coat making his way through the shop with a nervous look in his eye. Laura had this sneaking suspicion that something was up with this guy and kept a watchful eye on him. That's when it happened; her suspicion were brought to fruition. Now she wondered if she should do anything about it. On one hand none of this was her business, but then her eyes caught Finnick. The fox has been a huge ass to her for as long as she knew him, but she did owe him for all the good he's been trying to do for her. Upon seeing the pig making his way out she made her move. He was just about to open the door to make his escape until Laura came up from behind and slammed the door back shut.

"Hey what's the big idea…" the pig was interrupted by Laura turning him around and slamming him against the window next to the door, "What's your problems!"

"What's going on here?" Finnick demanded now standing on the counter which got the attention of the other customers, "Kid I was hoping I didn't have to say it, but I wanted you to stay out of trouble."

"This guy is trying to steal from you." she answered not letting her grip on the pig loosen in the slightest.

"What? Oh come on you're going to believe this freak over me? Look at her." the pig said as his hands motioned around her hoodie and scarf in a panic "She looks ready to rob someone. I'll tell you I do not appreciate being assaulted like this. I could call my lawyer right now sue you for harass…"

Laura cut him off by grabbing the zipper to his coat and pulling it off faster than he could register the action. This caused a multitude of items to fall from the confines of the fabric onto the floor. The pig started laughing nervously knowing that he has been caught red-handed in front of a number of mammals. Laura though tightened her grip against the swine.

"Kid let 'em go." Finnick said with Laura looking to him in confusion. Finnick gave her a gesture that told he had this and she complied, "Hey don't worry big guy I ain't pressing charges." this left both Laura and the pig confused at this point. That was until Finnick jump behind the counter only to reappear with a baseball bat. "Cause if you don't leave in 5 seconds I'll beat you senseless, and have my scary new friend take care of what left of ya. Now git!"

That was enough for the pig to scurry off into the open road of the city. Once he was out of site the patrons went on with their day now that there entertainment was over. Finnick threw his bat back behind the counter and returned to his work. With nothing better to do, Laura made her way over to the front counter to lean on the wall next to it.

"Hey." Finnick said to get her attention, "Thanks for that. Was too busy to spot that guy."

"Well I did owe you one." Laura replied.

"Actually you technically owe me more than that."

Laura sighed, "And now you're making me regret it."

"Jeez learn to take a joke would ya." Finnick gave her a playful jab to the arm which caused her to give him a look of annoyance, "Just irks me that someone would be so desperate to steal from charity of all places. I mean here I am trying to do something nice for the community for once, and some low life tries to take advantage of that." it was then that Finnick came up with an idea, "Say kid how would you like to work as security for this place?"

"You want to hire me?"

Finnick had to pause in order to deal with a customer before continuing, "Gonna level with ya. Pay ain't nothing to write home about; if I'll be able to pay you at all that is. But I could use an extra set of eyes around here considering what I'm working with." he gesture over to a few of the employees which most were bored looking teens, "I mean look at them they're useless. Most of them are here out of obligation more than anything else. Wouldn't mind having someone around who could also easily spot some shifty mammals around here."

Not planning on staying, Laura wanted to say no until she looked back at Finnick. The fox had his head and ears down while looking up all wide eyed and pitiful, "Oh my God fine. Just stop giving me that look." it was like saying no to a small child with an adult's voice, "However I'd like something in return. Since I'm new in this city and probably be staying for a while. I think it's be in my best interest to learn more about it. If you could help me out I might consider your offer."

Finnick sighed before reaching behind the counter and pulled out his smartphone, "Here you can use this. Just bring her back in one piece when you're done."

Laura took the phone from the fox's grasp and started surfing the web. Through this place's equivalence of a search engine the young woman was able to learn as much as she needed to know. She was in the city of Zootopia; a civilization filled primarily of many different mammals. With several different districts with some of which were climate controlled for the needs of certain animals, so that meant their technological capabilities were impressive enough. Probably enough to make Stark jealous. However what also caught her eye was how this planet was also called Earth. With a realization that she was not on a different planet at all, but that she was in fact in a different reality all together. This made things difficult for Laura. If she was on a different planet then she could've just sent word through space and hope to get a ride back home from the Guardian. This… she didn't know how to get out of this. She was stuck.

That's when she looked up something else about this earth. She decided to search up if there were humans on this earth, and she got nothing. She searched homo-sapiens and nothing. Apes, monkeys, primates, anything else but all she got was nothing. Nothing but a bunch of unrelated links and the search engine asking if she meant something else. This lead her to look up what kind of heroes were on this earth, and all the answers she got were generic to put it at best. It showed her firefighters, paramedics, a bunny and fox wearing police uniforms. The point is, is that it showed her nothing of any superpowered beings, so it was safe to say they didn't exist here either. Needless to say the odds to get back to her world were slim to none. Finished with her search she handed the phone back to Finnick like she promised and proceeded to uphold her end of the bargain and kept a watchful eye over the store.

However the rest of the day offered very little in excitement compared to earlier. Things around the shop went smoothly once the rush had let up. So much so that it was beginning to drive Laura to boredom. Guess after that little display she pulled with that pig made people think twice before pulling one over around here. Though Laura's bones were itching for some excitement; no matter how much she hated to admit it she was made for such things. Once the day started winding down to dusk and both patrons and employees started making their leave; that's when Finnick came her way baring two bottles of soda in each paws.

"Here ya go kid." he offered the second bottle to her, "For catching that pig. Keep it up and there'll be one for ya for a job well done."

"Wow I get paid with a whole soda?" Laura sarcastically muttered, "I must be the luckiest girl in the world."

"Wait you're a girl?" Finnick didn't need look up to know how Laura was looking down at him, "Joke! That was a joke. Jezz you must be fun at parties."

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"So you find what you were looking for?" referring to her previous phone use.

"I found enough." she stated coldly.

"Really?" Finnick eyed her quizzically, "Anything in particular like a quick route to wherever you call home?"

"No." Laura replied, "For all I know there isn't a home to go back to anyway."

"Sorry to hear that." Finnick muttered not wanting to push that button any further, "Hey I'm gonna go and close up for the night. Be seeing ya in the morning."

Laura gave the fox a nod as he walked off. She kind of lost track of time not realizing how dark it was getting until then. With a stretch off her limbs she made her way back into the office room to spend the rest of her night yet again. Once in she threw off the scarf and pulled back her hoodie in preparations for rest. Unsure on how she should feel about getting a job on this separate earth. At least she'd have something to do, but there was still that longing of returning to her own earth. To be reunited with her teammates. To be reunited again with Warren; with Angel. Felt like not long ago that she started a relationship with the time-displaced X-Men, and now she had been separated from him so shortly after which. Now on a world where she was even more of an outcast as a human and a mutant.

Her thoughts however were interrupted by some rattling just outside the store. Curious to what could be going on; the young mutant made her way to the back ally of the store where she heard the noise. There the first thing she noticed was that Finnick's van was still there, so he didn't leave just yet. However the back doors were left wide open for the world to see. Finnick didn't seem like the guy who would leave it like that for anyone to go in. That's when she heard some rattling going on even further down the ally, so she went to investigate. She was glad she did, for what she saw was Finnick being ganged up on by what appeared to be a grey wolf, black panther, a grizzly bear, and yak.

"So what do you have to say for yourself runt?" the bear asked, "Thought a fox would know better than to blab to the cops."

"Oh come on guys they were just some old friends coming for a visit." Finnick responded nervously, "We were just having a nice little chat. You know just some catching up."

"Don't play dumb with us; we heard your 'chat' with those cops." the wolf stated as he pointed to the panther, "You were telling them about our boss."

"But I didn't tell 'em anything that was of much importance…"

He was cut off by being lifted up by the collar of his shirt by the yak, "The fact you told them anything at all was enough."

"So let us tell you what's gonna happen runt." the bear said poking Finnick on the forehead, "We're going to rough you up, and when we're done we're going to dispose half of your merchandise." the bear cracked his knuckles before continuing, "Feel lucky that we don't burn the entire place down." the bear prepared to give the first punch.

"Hey!" the mammals turned to who shouted to be face with an angry Laura, "Put him down."

"What in Sam hell is that?" was all the yak could think to say.

"Whatever it is it's ugly as sin." replied the panther.

"Kid stay out of this!" Finnick shouted in worry, "Just go back inside until I tell you it's over."

"Wow how uncharacteristic of a fox to worry about anything other than their own skin." the wolf thought out loud, "Maybe we should teach you a lesson by taking care of whatever that thing is instead."

"What I am is head of security of his store…" Laura announced with a threatening tone as she slowly approached the mammals, "… and as such I say you're trespassing. Now put him down and leave, or you'll be begging to leave."

The bear only laughed at that remark before making his way to the girl, "You think you can take us you scrawny freak?" he stopped just a few inches in front of her, "If you think you're so tough then go ahead. I'll give you the first swing." without hesitation Laura attempted an uppercut with her left hand; only for the bear to catch it without effort, "Well too bad you wasted your chance, and for this lowlife. Now we have no choice but to…"

 _SNIKT_

The bear looked at his paw to see that two metal claws now sticking out of the back of it. To add insult to injury instead of simply retracting them, Laura forcefully pulled back cutting through the top of the bear's paw; causing the large mammal to tumble over gripping his paw in agonizing pain. The other members of this crew were in shock to see their largest member taken out with only one hit by this small unknown creature. Laura responded to their stares with a growl as two more claws emerged from her right hand.

"So one down." she said in a deathly tone, "Which one of you thinks they can take this 'freak' on?"

The yak who had been holding up Finnick dropped the fox and motioned for his wolf companion to follow his lead. The two pulled out some extendable batons in a plan to rush her down. Laura ducked away from the yak's swing to her head and block the wolf's strike with her claws. She responded to their attack via elbowing the yak in the back of the head and pushing the wolf away so she could strike him down with her free hand. The wolf dodged out of the way from her attack allowing him to attempt another round of strikes at her. This gave enough time for the yak to recover to make another go at her. Laura saw this and spun around to deflect the blow with her left claw as she continued to deflect the wolf's attacks with her right. However this left her wide open for an attack from behind by the panther who knocked her on the back of the head causing her to tumble. Laura was able to catch herself and deliver a kick directly to the panthers muzzle. As the panther fell back that's when she noticed Finnick staying still where he fell; shell shocked by what he was witnessing.

"What are you waiting for? Go!" Laura demanded as she kept up her defense against the yak and wolf.

Finnick finally snapped out of it and made his way back to the store as to call for help. He was able to make his way past the battle thanks to Laura keeping the two mammals focus too busy on her. However he was stopped by an enormous paw grabbing him by the ears. Through all the chaos the bear that threatened him earlier became all but forgotten. Thought that he would be too preoccupied mending his own paw to actually contribute in any further affairs. Now being proven wrong as the bear stared daggers into Finnick's eyes.

"Your gonna pay for what your freak did to me." the bear lifted Finnick up ready to pound him into the ground.

Laura saw what was transpiring and made her move to help her tiny fox friend. She kicked the yak out of the way and rolled past the wolf as he made a swing for her. With enough forward momentum she was able to roll all the way up to the bear to make an uppercut with her claws that connected to his right shoulder blade all the way up to the top of his right eye. The bear let out a pain inducing yell as he dropped the fox from his grasp. Finnick took this opportunity to make a run back into the building.

Laura was relieved to see the fox make his escape, but it was short lived when she was grabbed from behind. She had been too careless to let her guard down for the panther to get the jump on her and put her in a full nelson. No matter how much she struggled she could not break free from the panther's hold. The yak took this chance to charge the girl in order to hit her in the face with his baton. However Laura had an ace up her sleeve in the form of an additional claw that popped out from between her big and second toe of her left foot. With it she stopped the yak in his tracks via kicking it into his side. The yak fell back due to the attack. With swiftness, Laura lifted her right foot up, popped out another claw, and plunged it into the panther's hind paw. As the panther loosened his grip with a painful yelp, Laura was able to free her right arm and gave him an elbow to the back of his head, and used her now free left hand to stab him in the shoulder. Thanks to that she was able to throw him against the wall of the alleyway.

With those three down that only left the wolf; who made his presence known by tackling Laura from behind. Before she could do anything about it, the wolf took out a combat knife and shoved it into the base of her spine severing it. The wolf just dropped her after that with the knife still in her; knowing that she could no longer use her legs. The wolf let out a laugh as he brought out his baton; ready to deliver the final blow to her skull. He was stopped however by a bat being thrown to his head. Upon looking he saw Finnick wearing a very pissed off stare.

"Just so ya know I called the cops not too long ago." he announced with much renewed confidence, "Unless you wanna disappoint your boss even more; I suggest you beat it!"

The wolf only now realized how much time they spent trying to take out this strange creature had been all in vain. Quickly he dropped his attention from the girl so he could round up the rest of his compatriots to leave before the cops could arrive. However for the bear they all needed to collectively pick him up and carry him out of the ally. Due to his injuries he was in no condition to be moving anymore. Once they were gone did Finnick run over to Laura to see if she was okay.

"Kid, kid!" Finnick saw how she was groaning in pain, so at least she was still alive. Thankfully he could hear sirens coming along, "Don't worry kid help is on the way." he prepared to run off to inform the police of what happened.

"Wait!" Finnick stopped when hearing Laura, "I need you to get this out of me." She pointed to the knife in her back; unable to reach it herself, "Quickly before they show up."

"What? Are you crazy?" Finnick shouted in disbelief, "You'll bleed out if I do that."

"Just trust me on this, and get this damn thing out of me!"

Reluctantly Finnick ran over to the fallen mutant in order to help her out. Despite still thinking this was a horrible idea he took the knife in his paw and began to pull. It was lodged in pretty good though however. But after a few good tugs he was able to pull the weapon from Laura's back and dropped it on the ground in surprise.

"Oh dear god I can't believe I did that." he stuttered to himself. He heard the sirens stop not too far away meaning the cops would be at the front entrance any second now, "Just hang in there Laura. Gonna go get some help for ya."

Finnick raced back inside the store to greet the cops who were waiting to enter. The ones who answered the call were an elephant named Francine Pennington and a rhino known as officer McHorn. The two were deployed in response to the threat of large mammals causing a disturbance in the vicinity. Finnck wasted no time letting them in and explaining to them that his employee had been stabbed just out back. Quickly he lead them to where the incident took place only to find no one there. They looked up and down the area but couldn't find hide or hair of the girl Finnick spoke of.

"Is this some sort of joke?" asked officer Pennington.

"What? No! She was here!" Finnick pointed to the spot he last saw Laura, "She was laying right there after having a knife in her back."

Looking again seeing no girl and no knife left officer McHorn unconvinced, "Listen sir we'll let you off easy, but next time call when there's an actual emergency only."

With that the cops made their leave with a very confused fox behind them. Their car could soon be heard heading out of the area. Moments later something landed just behind him sending the small fox into a fright. Turning around he could see Laura was the one now standing there.

"For the love of... don't be sneaking up on mammals like that!" he shouted in frustration, "Where were you? You made me look foolish!"

"Sorry I don't have a good experience with cops."

"Oh well I'm so sorry to make you feel uncomfortable, but this was serious! You were stabbed in the..." it was only now that he noticed something was off, "Wait you were stabbed, but you're standing. You're standing? How is that possible? There was a knife in your back. Speaking of knife; what were those things? Those things, those knifes popped out of your paws. How could ya do that? What were they? What...but...wah...what are you!?"

"I told you I'm a human."

"Do humans normally do the things you do?" she answered him with a shake of her head, "Then what the hell kid!? What the actual hell!?"

Laura took a deep breath knowing that she had to get this over with sooner or later, "I'm not what would be considered a normal human. I'm what's known as a mutant. A person who is born with a mutation that allows them to possess extraordinary abilities. One of mine are these..." she unsheathed her claws from her right hand, "…and this." she used the claws to make a cut in the palm of her off hand and showed it to Finnick. Showing how it healed at such a rate barely giving it enough time to bleed. "Any other questions?"

* * *

 _Back at the unknown warehouse_

The boss wasn't happy. He sent his mammals to intimidate a fennic fox, but instead they came back bleeding everywhere. The worst of them being the bear who seem to be struggling to stay alive. He needed to know how a simple mission could be batched so badly.

"What happened?" he asked when the only uninjured party, the wolf, made it to his office.

"I don't know." he answered in fear, "Everything was going fine until this girl showed up, and she... she took us out sir."

"A girl?" was all the boss could say, "One girl did this? Just one? What species was she?"

"I don't know." the boss was getting tired of that answer, "But you don't have to worry; I took care of her. I stabbed her in the base of her spine with my knife. She won't be getting up anytime soon."

"Your knife?" the boss looked over the wolf's person, "Where is your knife?" the wolf reached for where it should have been only to now realize his mistake. A mistake that caused him to be grabbed and pushed to the wall, "You forgot you're knife!"

"I'm sorry boss, but the cops were coming."

"I don't care. Do you know what could happen if they get a hold of it?" the wolf scared stiff by his boss's words, "Now get out of my sight you worthless mutt." the wolf obeyed and left the office as fast as possible. The boss didn't think the news could get any worse until there was a knock at the door, "What?"

"Sir it's about Rufus." chimed in a rhino just outside, "Doc says he doesn't have much longer."

Like that he made his way out the door and to their makeshift medical wing. Within there could be seen the other two mammals from that failed mission receiving bandage for their wounds, but they were not the one he was concerned with. Not so far was the wounded bear, now known as Rufus, who was laying on a cot in pain. The wounds he received being too deep to mend and the huge amount blood loss made it fatal.

Rufus soon noticed his boss's entrance, "Sir…" he struggled to speak, "…forgive me for I've failed you…"

The boss lift his paw in order to halt his words, "What did this to you old friend?"

Rufus once again struggled to speak, but now from fear more then pain, "I never seen anything like it before." he paused in order to cough, "It was so scrawny and small, but it… it fought like a demon." for the first time in his life the boss could hear fear in the bear's voice, "Be cautious around it. I don't know if even you could beat…beat…"

Like that Rufus head fell back and laid there unmoved. His breathing now ceased, and the boss's anger grew even more so. Now knowing that a new adversary had decided to jump in the game. Now a new urge grew within him. An urge to find the one responsible for this, and destroy them.

 **End of Chapter 3**

 **A/N: And that is all for chapter three. Now I know that it's been awhile since we've last seen Judy and Nick, but don't worry they'll be back the story from the the next chapter and throughout. I simply felt that time needed to be spent integrating X-23 a little into the world before the plot picks up again. Hope you guys enjoyed regardless enough to leave reviews and feedback. Till next time.**


	4. Today's Brightest

**Zootopia: Mammals of the Atom**

 **Chapter 4: Today's Brightest**

The sound of the alarm clock bounced off walls of the very small apartment room. Blaring with the purpose of get the rabbit officer from her slumber. Slowly but surely Judy Hopps rose from her bed, and clumsily shut off the alarm before her often cranky neighbors had the chance to remind her. The day before had been a long and hard one; what with dealing with the aftermath of that freak storm that came out of nowhere. That whole day was spent having to deal with a series of looters, and missing mammals who all turned out to be weathering the storm at their friends and neighbors. All the while taking time away from that important protection racket case. Due to the events yesterday everything involving the case had to be put on hold temporarily, and just when they got somewhat of a lead. So as her and many of other emergency response units were cleaning up after that storm; a group of criminals were able to get an extra day to walk free to destroy more private establishments. Well today she will make sure Nick and her would do everything in their power to try to solve it. Hopefully before anyone gets seriously hurt.

Once done with getting dressed up in her uniform; she made her way out of the apartment, to head to work. The trains were the most significant means for her to get to the precinct, and at this early hours they'd be less crowded as well. Having to work the farm life for most of her early years had really help out, on that regard. Once on, Judy knew she had plenty of time before she'd reach her destination, so she decided to pass the time through her smart-phone. Perhaps catch up on some of the local news, seeing as she had little time yesterday after just crashing on the bed as soon as she got home. However the best she could come up with was an update of that damn storm. It didn't help that this said 'update' answered very little and brought up only more questions.

" _In today's news: many mammals are still concerned by the recent storm that hit the other day."_ said the snow leopard by the name of Fabienne Growley; one of the leading anchors of ZNN, _"Many of the citizens have been seeking answers. However local meteorologist have claimed to be 'stumped' by its appearance. Citing that, 'As far as we can tell it all seemed to come out of nowhere.'"_

" _Yes it all appears to be a mystery."_ replied her co-anchor; a moose by the name of Peter Moosebridge as he cleared his throat, _"Because of this, certain districts were unable to take the necessary precautions to prepare for such a force from nature. Both the Rainforest District and Tundra Town suffering the blunt of it: with the lower area of the Rainforest District being flooded, due to not turning off the sprinkler system in time, and with the cooling system being left on, caused many of Tundra Town's businesses being held up due to the entrance being frozen over."_

" _Thankfully, most of which has been cleaned up since then, so there is no delays in businesses today."_ Fabienne continued, _"Also we are happy to say that luckily there has yet to be any casualties reported since the storm hit. This is ZNN bringing you the latest in breaking news."_

Judy sighed at the lack of answers that had been provided. For something that caused so much trouble for the last few days you would think you would have at least some explanation behind it. But instead it was just some mysterious thing that mother nature just decided to put on out of the blue. Oh well she thought; in the grand scheme of things it probably is not that important compared to the big case she was on. Despite what little information was recovered it didn't matter. In Judy's eyes it only meant that they were all just one step closer to busting it wide open. Such confidence stayed with her as she existed the train and made her may to the precinct. Quickly she went through the double-doors of the office ready to get to work.

"Well good to see you finally showed up." once hearing that, Judy turned her attention over to the fox who was casually leaning on the wall near the entrance with a cup of coffee in his paws, "You're at least one point five minutes later than usual. What's the matter Carrots; yesterday too much for you?"

Judy just responded with a mock-laugh, "You're a regular comedian Nick." she said as the both of them were making their way through the lobby of the precinct. Judy made sure to give a greeting to the overweight cheetah named Clawhauser, "Well if anything I'm just ready to get back on the case. The sooner we solve it the better."

"Well I'm glad to hear your enthusiasm Hopps." said the chief of police Bogo who stood in their path, "However I'm afraid to say that I can't allow you to go back on the case just yet."

Both mammals were shocked to hear that especially Judy, "But sir why? Did one of us do something wrong?"

"Not you per say, but someone who you should know." the water buffalo proceeded to hand them a folder. On inspection it became clear that they were handed a police report, and further inspection made things even more clear, "Looks like your little friend, Finnick chose to prank call the station last night."

"Oh come on chief, Finnick's not up for playing pranks on cops." Nick replied with confidence.

"Well then I guess my officers last night were making up what transpired when answering his call."

At this point Judy jumped in for her partner, "It's just that what he meant is that this doesn't match up with Finnick's behavior."

"Look, all I know is that my officers were called to the scene to report on a disturbance at his shop, and that one of his employees was stabbed." Bogo helped clarify for them, "But when they got there, there was no sign of this alleged employee to be found."

"Still doesn't sound like something Finnick would joke about." said Nick.

"Listen you want back on the case?" both officers answered with a nod, "Well all I'm asking is for you two to look into this one little thing before you get back on it. Being his friends, he'd probably be more receptive to the both of you. Now get to it. The sooner you're done with that the sooner you can get back to the case."

As chief Bogo left, Judy decided to lay out her frustration by jabbing Nick in the arm, "Ouch! What was that for?" the fox said as he rubbed the sore spot on his arm.

"Leave it to one of your friends to get us into trouble. Let's go."

The two mammal officers now made their way out the building. Ready to head to investigate what was asked of them. Reaching the parking lot, and stepping inside their cruiser, ready to drive on out, completely unaware of what awaited them once they arrived.

* * *

 _At the unknown warehouse_

The boss of this small operation sat quietly at his desk. He clawed at the wooden frame in frustration from the other day's proceedings. His subordinate, his friend, died last night. He and that old bear Rufus had both served together through most of his military career, and had gone from hell and back for each other. The boss had no problems convincing the old bear to go along with him on his venture that lead them to forming this militia. Rufus being a loyal brother-in-arms has always had his back; compared to all these other who were no more then grunts to him. All he asked was for him and a few others to just rough up a mouthy fox that was blabbing to the police. But instead it turned out that tiny fox had some hired muscle on paw, and now his long time friend was forever lost to him.

There was a knock at the door that he had waited so impatiently for. From one vocal acknowledgement two mammals proceeded to let themselves in. The two mammals, a wolf and a panther, from that failed mission from last night. He wasn't particularly happy to see them seeing how they came back alive and his friend did not. The wolf especially had no care for at this moment. Everyone else from that night came back with horrible lacerations that'll leave serious scars while the wolf came back a with bump on his head; leading to the boss's assumption that said wolf worked less as hard than the others. The fact is, is if things went like they were supposed to than they wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

"You wanted to see us boss?"

The boss just continued to scratch at his desk. Scratch, scratch, and scratch some more. For minutes the sound of claws scraping through the wooden desk was all that could be heard throughout the room. That combined with the disapproving scowl only served to make the two even more uneasy.

"I called you two up here because I'm beginning to question your usefulness." the boss stated finally taking his claws away from his desk, "All I asked of you is to handle this one simple thing, but what did I get in return? A shop owner who's probably feeling braver than others, a piece of evidence left at the scene, and the death of my first lieutenant. Since he's dead and you two reported this fox; I'll be holding you both responsible for this blunder. Please enlighten me on why I should keep you both around after this."

The two mammals were practically quivering in their boots before the panther spoke, "Sir I speak for all of us when I say we are willing to do whatever it takes to earn your forgiveness."

The boss let out a low growl, "I guess I can take your word for that; especially when you actually suffered through your work compared to others in this room." he glared at the wolf when he said that, "However, we still have that mouthy fox to worry about."

"We will try again boss." the wolf chimed in.

"No!" the boss proclaim harshly, "You two had your chance with him and blew it. No if you want to redeem yourself then I want you to take care of a another shop I've had my eyes on. A floral shop owned by a couple of otters."

"But sir that shop is owned by…"

"I know who owns it!" he slammed his paw against the desk to emphasize his frustration, "However, after your failure it won't take long for news of it to spread, and will probably cause some of these mammals to grow a spine. That and for others in the undergrounds to start questioning our strength. I need to send a statement; even if that means we step up our time table." the two mammals reluctantly agreed to their boss's demands, "Don't worry about the fox. I'll be sure to take care of it myself."

* * *

 _At the thrift shop_

Laura had just awoke from the couch within the shop's office room. She sighed in relief as she began a series of stretches; relived that she hadn't been poked awake this time. For all she knew Finnick was probably still at home recovering from the traumatic events that unfolded last night. She couldn't blame him though. Not every day when you meet an alien species who has metal claw coming out from between their appendages. But she had to admit he did seem rather supportive of the matter. The fact that he was concerned for her wellbeing after being stabbed in the back at least showed her that he at least cared despite his demeanor.

Once she was done with her stretches she proceeded to assemble her clothing from yesterday completed with hoodie and scarf. She had a different jacket on this time; due to getting blood on the last one thanks to that brawl she went through last night. This one was brown leather which represented her father's old getup. Once that was all taken care of she made her way out to the shop. The store was busy but not quite as much as the day before; which only made it easy for Laura to make her way to the front counter. Only there did she finally see Finnick sitting from behind the counter checking out the mammals who wished to make a purchase.

"Morning kid." he greeted without even looking at her.

Laura then leaned herself against the wall next to the counter yet again as she proceeded to do her job. However despite keeping a watchful eye over the place she couldn't help but notice Finnick constantly glancing over to her. It was apparent that he wanted to say something, but for whatever reason he kept silence. After a few repeated attempts of this it was beginning to get on her nerves.

"What is it?"

"Well…" Finnick searched for the right response, "You see I was thinking about your powers."

Laura sighed when she heard that. That was all he wanted to talk about since last night. She worried that she wouldn't get a lick of sleep because of his insistence questioning, "What do you want to know now?"

"Well you said you could heal from any wound right?" Laura answered him with a nod, "Was just curious about how far that could go."

"Don't think I'll let you test out how true that is."

"Oh God of course not." Finnick was quick to respond, "After what I saw what your capable of with those." he pointed between her knuckles where her claws would come out, "I want to live. How bout instead I just ask ya what it'll take to kill ya, and you just say yes or no. Okay?"

Laura let out a low growl before responding, "Fine."

"Okay let me think." Finnick thought hard, "Stabbing doesn't work on ya right?"

"I think we established that last night?"

"Yeah but what if it were in the head or heart?"

"No."

"Okay how about shot in the head or heart?"

"No."

"Set on fire?"

"No."

"Acid being dumped on ya?"

"No."

"Being hung?"

"No."

"Thrown off a cliff?"

"No."

"Thrown off a cliff with spikes?"

"That kind of falls under the last one and stabbing, so no."

"Okay, okay…" Finnick was trying his hardest to come up with something, "How about if you were being shot at while hung, and set on fire over a cliff with a tank filled with hungry sharks?"

"…No."

"Oh come on you're making that up!" Finnick was now fed up with this.

Laura though just stared him dead straight in the eye, "Am I?"

Finnick challenged her stare head on in hopes that she was bluffing. However after half a minute of her not flinching he decided to yield, "I don't know, and I think I don't want to. Now how bout them claws? Do they well…"

"Yes they hurt every time I bring them out." Laura finished for him. She had a feeling he'd ask after noticing how squeamish he appeared when she retracted them. Luckily she spotted something on the other side of the store to get her away from this conversation, "I'll be right back."

Laura made her way to the other side of the shop leaving Finnick to himself. The small fox didn't mind however. Just meant he could get back to managing the place without any distractions. That was short lived though when he saw a familiar duo enter through the front of the shop. It was Judy and Nick who wasted no time to approach the front counter. Finnick couldn't help but notice the all too serious look they were sporting.

"Well look who's back so soon." Finnick said with a cheery demeanor as to offset the seriousness of his friend, "So how's that investigation going for ya?"

Nick let out a halfhearted laugh, "Actually Fin we're not here because of that."

The small fox raised an eyebrow to that, "Finnick did you call the ZPD last night?" Judy asked with Finnick nodding in response, "You reported a disturbance that occurred here."

"Yeah what about it?"

"Well, it's just that there were complaints from the officers that you called under false pretenses." Judy continued.

"Hey it ain't my fault those two muscle heads they sent me couldn't properly look over the place."

"Finnick you told them one of your employees was stabbed." Nick chimed in, "But there was no one to be found, and according to hospital records no one was admitted to the hospital for any similar injuries."

"Well yeah that's because she's busy working right now."

The two cops just stood there completely wide eyed by what they just heard. It took a moment for Finnick to realize what he just said. It was moments like this that made him wish he could have better control over his big mouth. However, before he had a chance to clarify, Nick spoke up before he had the chance.

"Geez Finnick I'd guess that you'd be hard to work for, but still my God." Nick stated, "Least tell me the knife isn't still in her."

"No, I yanked it out before she went to bed." Finnick had kicked himself again for his big mouth.

"How is it you're so calm with saying that." Judy asked in such a panic, "You've could've caused some serious irreparable damage."

"It's all fine. Really." Finnick was smart enough that there was no coming back from this anymore. "Okay I think it'll be easier if I show ya instead. She this way."

Finnick proceeded to lead them over to the other side of the shop. On the way, however, three young looking mammals were spotted running like hell away from where they were heading, and directly out the store the door in terror. Finnick could only guess that Laura had something to do with this. The girl had proven time after time to be an intimidating presence, and didn't seem to mind how much of it she possessed. Once they reached their destination Judy and Nick soon took notice of the tall hooded and scarf wearing creature that came into view in front of them. Immediately they could tell that something was off about this creature. From the straightness of its hind leg, the baldness of its hands and feet, and to how both appendages were clawless. Thanks to the scarf and hood though made it difficult for either of the two to identify what species of mammal she was.

"So what was that all about?" Finnick asked referring to the terror-stricken cubs that just ran off.

"Those young punks were trying to take some electronics, so I just gave a very, very serious talking on why stealing is wrong." Laura answered which elicited a smirk from Finnick, but it didn't take long for her to notice the two cops behind the small fox, "Who are they?"

"These are some friends of mine from the ZPD." he explained, "They want to talk to ya about what went down last night."

"I thought I told you I don't like cops."

"Oh don't worry they're cool." Finnick said in hopes to ease any tension, "Beside they wouldn't be here if you didn't make me look like a fat liar. Now go on and introduce yourselves. We're all friends here after all."

It took awhile but eventually Judy made the first move, "Um… hi. My name's Judy, officer Judy Hopps, with the ZPD. This here is my partner officer Nick Wilde." she said while motioning to the red fox who gave a nonchalant wave, "Anyway we're here because of a disturbance that occurred that Finnick reported and said you might of been in miss…"

"Kinney. Laura Kinney." she answered, "Yeah something like that may of happen. What of…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait tell them the other name you got." Finnick said with Laura giving him a disapproving scowl, "Oh come on you just one more time." he then proceeded to elbow the larger fox, "You gonna love this Nick."

Laura just groaned before finally giving in, "X-23."

The three just stared for a moment before Nick couldn't hold it in, and burst out laughing. It didn't take long until Finnick joined in on the fun, and began laughing too. The combined laughter of the two was enough that it was beginning to draw attention of the other patrons of the shop; all giving the group awkward stares wondering what on earth could so amusing. All Laura could do was stand there and give a frustrating growl at the two. All the while Judy just rolled her eyes at the immaturity of her partner.

"It's not that funny Nick." said the rabbit.

"It kind of is Carrots." Nick replied, "It sounds like an energy drink from the nineties!"

"I know right?" Finnick chimed in.

As the laughter slowly died down, Judy couldn't help but notice the audience they had built up from the commotion. She had thought it best that they go somewhere more private to continue this discussion. In response, Finnick ushered over the office room. Once inside both Judy and Nick couldn't help but notice just how messy the whole room was; all the while Laura sat on top of Finnick's desk much to the tiny fox dismay.

"Jeez Finnick you think you could keep your business more tidy." Nick said sarcastically, "What would your girlfriend think?"

"Hey it's all her." Finnick pointed towards Laura. "She's been living here for two days, and already she gave it a very lived in feel."

"Wait you live here?" Judy asked.

"I'm not from around here, or anywhere else to go."

"Oh so you're from out of town." Judy surmised, "So which town or city you hail from?"

"None you'd ever heard of I'm sure." Laura answered with some sass.

"Kid stop being so difficult and just show them." said Finnick, "I told ya they're cool."

Reluctantly, Laura pulled off her hood and scarf revealing her completely flat and bald face. The result left both officers absolutely stunned to witness such an alien appearance. If Nick had a cup of coffee in his paws he'd be doing a spit take right about now. Aside from her long lock of raven hair on the top of her head they just couldn't help but notice the sheer lack of any other shred of hair on the rest of her. That wasn't even taking in consideration on the flatness of her face, and including how small the ears and nose she had were. The room itself remained silent for what felt like an eternity, and it was beginning to get beyond awkward.

"Okay seriously I know there are no human on this earth, but I'm not that interesting to look at." Laura said in order to break the silence.

It was then that Judy snapped out of it, "I'm sorry what did you say your species name was."

"Human." Laura answered only to notice Judy having a notepad in her paws, and realized what was going on, "H-U-M-A-N."

Judy excitedly wrote it all down, "Sorry it's just exciting to meet a new species." she did her best to compose herself before getting back on task, "Anyway could you tell us what happened?"

"There were four of them: a wooly looking yak, a scrawny grey wolf, a black panther, and a brown bear." Laura described to them, "I was preparing to call it a day when I heard a noise in the back ally. Next thing I see those four were harassing Finnick, and as this store's only security staff, I immediately took action."

"Okay, but Finnick said you were stabbed in the back." Nick interjected.

"I was." Laura answered as she pulled open one of the desk drawer to draw out a knife covered in dry blood, "With this knife to be exact. Right into my lower vertebrae."

"Okay backup Pinky." Nick said once getting a good look of the knife, "How in the world are you still able to walk after having that stuck in you? That thing is should've been enough to sever your spine; the very least you should have bled out from having it pulled out."

Laura groaned to herself in annoyance from the situation. She was hoping to avoid any encounters with the local authority, for only the fact that past experience showed her that mutants and law enforcement didn't mix. Though when she looked to Finnick for a way out what she got from him was a look of reassurance. Now that she thought in hindsight this whole situation was of her own doing. She probably be better off if she just allowed that knife to remain plunged deep in her spine when the police arrived. Sure it'll hurt like hell but she knew she'd survive the ordeal, and the cops would've been more concerned with treating her injury then asking questions. Meaning she could've saved both her and Finnick a lot of hassle that they were facing now.

So, to show her compliance she raised her right arm across her chest, and slowly drew out the two adamantium claws from the confines in her hand. The officers just stood there completely shell-shocked; neither of which were expecting this sight before them. Though to be honest who could you prepare anyone to be faced with a creature of unknown origin who had twelve-inch blades protruding from her hand. Despite taking them out so slowly, Laura wasted no time to pop the claws back in just to show how the bloody slits between her knuckles close up; destroying any signs of ever having existed.

"That's how."

The bunny remained silent frozen leaving Nick to speak up, "Okay that's cool, but also pretty gross."

That comment was enough to get Judy back on her train of thought, "So Laura… how exactly did you end up in Zootopia?"

"All I know is that I woke up in a ditch in some park a few blocks from here." Laura answered only to become irritated when realizing the rabbit was changing the subject, "Why?"

"Well it's just that waking up in the middle of the city doesn't add up." Judy said, "Being such an unknown creature; someone would have had to of notice…"

"Listen I answered your questions, confirmed Finnick's story, and brought you evidence of it." Laura interrupted as she pulled her hood and scarf back up, and made her way out of the office, "Now if you excuse me I have to get back to work before something ends up missing from the shop. Good day officers."

"Wow she's a piece of work." Nick said once Laura closed the door behind her on the way out, "Where did you pick this one up?"

"Have no idea where she came from." Finnick responded to his best friend, "She stumbled in here during that freak storm."

"Just out of nowhere in the middle of a heavy storm?" asked Judy.

"Yep it's the damndest thing really." Finnick replied, "All I know is that she mention there's probably no where for her to go back to." the fennec fox also made his way out, "Oh and don't take her attitude too badly; she's not really fond of cops."

Once he had left both Nick and Judy felt that they were done here. Now that they had taken the knife inside an evidence bag the duo made their leave from the shop. They only stopped to wish their friend farewell, and mentioning how they would get things straightened out with the chief. Before they went out the door, Judy couldn't help but glance to the hooded mutant standing next to the counter watching out for the store. Seeing her gave the rabbit officer a fascination of Laura's possible origins. A story that she was sure the young human was not willing to tell anytime soon. Only when Laura caught her staring did Judy dash out the shop and into her cruiser, but not without new found enthusiasm as she and Nick drove off.

"Sorry for being rude to your friends." Laura said when she saw Finnick approach the front counter; hoping she didn't come off as ungrateful.

"Hey I get it; you don't like cops." he reassured her, "Don't worry about them. Judy, she may look frail, least she is emotionally, but she's tough as nails. She'll get over it. As for Nick he'll understand where your coming from. Wasn't so long ago that him and yours truly used to be on the wrong side of the law." Laura then gave him a quizzical look, "Hey it's true. I wasn't always the greatest boss of charity you see today. Was a time where Nick and I would go around the city, hustling mammals out of their money, and looking ridiculous while doing it." it was then that Finnick's expression turn sully, "You know it wasn't easy growing up as a fox. Having the whole world looking down on ya. Being seen as shifty and untrustworthy. Like all we were good at were swindling mammals out of their cash" Laura just stood there as the small fox relate his story to her. The fact that he was willing to open up to and share his experience showed a huge modicum of respect to have a heart to heart moment, "They were right about the two us of course, but ya know it was still wrong."

Laura almost chuckled in amusement to just how easy it was for him to ruin a moment, "So things do get to you."

Finnick gave out a sigh while searching through his pocket until he pulled out his wallet, "Hey, the vending machines is out of order right now, so here you go." he withdrew a full twenty from his wallet and presented it to Laura, "For catching those kids why don't ya get something to eat." he then brought out his phone and began tapping on it, "There's a local food joint a few block from here. Take this in case you get lost."

Laura took the phone in her hands and looked back at the fox. She knew full well that there was nothing wrong with the machine. Wasn't hard to figure out that it was all just an excuse for Finnick to be nice to her without having to be all mushy about it. Either way she didn't plan to take his generosity for granted, so she made her way out, and off to the location on the phone's map. Despite her very short time being in this city she was at least grateful to of come across him. What it will take, Laura will find a way to make it all up to him.

 **End of Chapter 4**

 **A/N:** Well, this one took a while to get this done, but I'm back in the saddle again. Though I'm ready to continue X's adventure through the world of Zootopia. Until than don't forget to review. Till next time.


	5. Spark of Heroism

**Zootopia: Mammals of the Atom**

 **Chapter 5: Spark of Heroism**

Nick almost had a hard time relaxing in the passenger seat of the cruiser as he was driven through the district. Usually, he'd enjoy how the buildings and the world itself looked to be speeding past him, but that was not this day. Most of that could contribute to the human creature that called herself Laura. It wasn't every day that you wake up and meet an all-new undiscovered species of mammal. Especially one that was so…he didn't want to say ugly, but she wasn't what he'd call attractive. Honesty he thought she wouldn't look so bad if her jawline would protrude out a bit more, and if she had more fur on the face. However, the unnerving thing about her laid with the fact that she had twelve-inch metal claw in her hands. Just seeing those things pierce out from between her knuckles gave him a sickly feeling in his stomach. He had to imagine how much that had to hurt even with Laura was unflinching from the whole thing.

That was only one of the things that were occupying his thoughts. The other was thanks to the rabbit who was driving. For some reason, Judy was so uncharacteristically quiet through the drive. He believed that it someway also played in meeting the human girl as well. Though he figured that she would've slipped out of it by now, and be excited that they could get back to the original case at hand. However, her focus was now being driven by this discovery. A fact made all too apparent when they stopped outside of a local park not too far from the thrift shop.

"Carrots what are we doing here?" Nick asked, "We should be getting back reporting to the chief so we can get back on that arson case."

"And we will, but I want to check something out first." Judy was prepared to get out of the cruiser until she caught Nick rolling his eyes, "What?"

"Just wondering why you're getting so hung up about that kid is all."

"And you aren't curious in the slightest?" asked Judy.

"I didn't say that." he clarified, "As far as I'm concerned, Pinky saved Finnick's life. That means she's okay in my books. But why are you so interested?"

"Well her story sounds familiar don't you think?" she stated, "Mysterious alien creature waking up in a new place, has a home that might not exist anymore, and has superpowers. Sounds a lot like the sidekick to that comic book character you like reading about so much."

"Okay first of all WonderWolf doesn't have any sidekicks." Nick replied, "Secondly, SupremeShe-Wolf is only his cousin with her own line of books, and just teams up with him on occasion. Third and foremost, and I can't believe a comic nerd has to say this to a non-one, that's a comic, and this is real life. Anything else?"

"Well, it was worth it to hear you admit to being a nerd."

"I'm being serious Judy."

The fact he skipped using his nickname for her said as much, "Look I just have a hunch. Tell you what Slick, give me five minutes, and if we don't find anything, then I promise to drop this whole thing altogether. Deal?"

Nick knew it was hard to talk Judy out of something when she set her mind to it, so to save himself the effort he agreed to go along for now. The two made their way into the park to find something, anything that could help them piece together Laura's origins. They thankfully didn't have to search long; as there was a crowd of mammals along the path. Included alongside them were a pair of beaver construction workers who all seemed less than pleased with the onlookers, most of which were leaning against their equipment, waiting in anticipation for the crowd to disperse. Judy thought it best to question them on what the commotion was about.

"We were called in to fill up a part of the path that was damaged during the storm." The lead beaver of the construction crew said, "But all of these mammals saw it and started taking their phones out to take pictures of a hole in the ground."

"So, what would you make of it?" asked Nick.

"I don't really care." The beaver answered in frustration, "Just that all of this is getting in the way of our work and getting paid."

After thanking the construction worker, Judy and Nick made their way past the crowd of mammals. If there was any chance that whatever was beyond this crowd could shed more light on Laura's origins, then Judy wished to find out. The bunch of mammals was thin enough for the two officers to quickly make it through to the red tape that stood guard around the piece of road from onlookers. Plus, it didn't hurt to wave their badges when some became too unruly. Judy took note that whatever they were all here for it was worth them having their phones out to take pictures, and when she and her fox companion took a look, they could see why. For what lay behind the red tape only helped it confirm the rabbit's theory.

The concrete behind the tape was cracked beyond anything mere lightening could bring. It was practically shattered to pieces, like glass, and whatever impacted it did so with such force to leave a crater. But that was not what really caught everyone's attention. No, it was what imprinted itself on the shattered slabs of concrete. What was left was a smoldering outline of a creature unknown to the inhabitants that were visiting the park; not too different from in appearance to a chalk outline used by investigators during a murder case. The black scorch marks lining up perfectly to the shape of the body down to every individual digit of the hands. Although the figures shape held no significance to the crowd of mammals, they merely wished to get pictures or selfies of the phenomenon, to Judy and Nick the humanoid shape was all too familiar.

"Nick, what is she?" was all Judy could mutter.

* * *

 _Back at the thrift shop_

It was getting late into the evening which meant Finnick was ready to close up for the night. It had been hours since he sent Laura off for food, and he was happy to say that there was no incident after she left. He thought that hopefully, word would spread that his shop had its own guardian angel and that only someone with a death wish would try to mess with it. Either way, he noticed that she was taking her sweet time getting back. Probably got lost on the way to or getting back. Oh well, he'll stay around until she got back before he locked up. It was the least he could do for the kid.

One by one he ushered his other employees out the door and took inventory for the day to come. Everything was going as smoothly as it could be. He cleaned out the register, cleaned the floors, and set up the empty shelves. After shutting off the lights, the fox made his way outside to prep up his van to leave when he heard the bell for the front door go off. It was about time that human got back. Finnick almost feared he would have to stay the night until she came. After he finished with the van, the small fox made his way back to the front of the store in to wish the girl good night, but who he saw wasn't Laura at all.

Standing at the shop's entrance was one massive Bengal tiger. Now it is well known that tigers were one of the largest cats in the world, but this one could give most of them a run for their money. However, that was the least imposing thing about him. The tall cat seemed to carry himself with such dominance it was almost enough to intimidate the fox who was only as big as the feline's head. He wore a costume made black combat vest with an empty knife strap around his left breast; as well as camouflage pants. But what really stood out about it was a series of scars that circled around the left side of his face. One, in particular, being in the shape of a crescent moon that went along the edge of his left eye.

It took a great effort for Finnick to talk, "Sorry, but we're closed."

"Oh, don't worry I won't be long." said the tiger as he rolled up a pair of gloves from his pocket, "You see I'm here to speak with the owner. I hear that he found himself in a bit of trouble the other night. Felt it was my civic duty to see what the ruckus was about."

"Yeah…well as you can see everything here is just fine." it was taking everything in Finnick's power to not let his nerves get the better of him; no matter with this imposing tiger looming over him.

"Oh, is that so?" the tiger said once he finished slipping on his glove, "Because I heard there was quite a skirmish that occurred. Between four strong and well-trained mammals against some odd-looking creature." he then began cracking his neck, "That one got extremely injured and was on the verge of death before they left. Be a shame when their boss finds out. He'd feel obligated to teach a lesson to such a nosy little fox." the tiger made his point by turning as to lock the door behind him.

With his back turned, Finnick made his move. He had no plans to run from this. No, he was more than willing to fight for this place. He put way too much sweat and tears into this place for some scumbag to barge in and take it from him. Plus, he figured that Laura would not be back anytime soon so he'd have to stick up for himself, or at the very least use the business phone to call for help and hold up long enough for them to arrive. Once he reached behind the front counter Finnick's heart dropped, for the bat he always kept there was now gone. Not only that but the cord to the business phone was cut.

"Looking for this?" Finnick heard the tiger ask.

When the fox climbed up the counter, his heart sank even further. The tiger now stood there waving Finnick's baseball bat casually in his right paw. He must have snuck behind the desk and snatched it and cut the phone line while Finnick was prepping the van. Either way, the fox knew he was out of options now.

The tiger however just smirked as he threw the bat aside and approached the counter, "Don't worry little fox." he said while patting down a satchel that contained a cell phone, "I let you borrow mine." as he proceeds to crack his knuckles, "When I'm done with you."

* * *

There was no doubt about it. Laura was definitely lost. She had been wandering through the streets of Zootopia's downtown streets for what felt like an eternity. Laura had followed the direction of the map that Finnick put on his phone perfectly which lead her to a local fast food joint. To her surprise and disgust, the source of meat and protein in this world came in the form of insects. In hindsight this made sense with a society of sentient animals where both predator and prey lived in harmony; the carnivores would need a new food supply. Still, she was hesitant to try the joint's signature item of a 'Roach Burger' as it was called. She sat at a table after ordering just staring at the sandwich for several minutes before taking her first bite. To her amusement, it wasn't all that bad. It wasn't great, but with roach as the main ingredient, she expected a lot worse.

Soon after finishing, Laura made her leave back to the thrift shop. That's where the trouble began. When she realized she did not bother to memorize any of the street names when making her journey. She just followed the direction on the map when it said 'turn here' or 'turn there.' She had thought to type the name of the store on Finnick's phone, but she knew not the name of the shop after two days of working there. She felt foolish for overlooking such things that were essential for her knowing the layout of this city. Oh well, it couldn't be helped now. Best now was just to recollect her path back to her best ability.

Laura then had the bright idea on checking Finnick's phone once again to flip through his contact list. As an owner, the small fox must have the number to his store saved somewhere on his phone. She pressed on a tab the was labeled 'Business' figuring that would be the right one. Sadly, all she was greeted with a dial tone instead. Either it was the wrong number, or the little cheapskate fox didn't bother to pay to keep the work phone on. She might as well scroll through again. There had to be someone she could call for assistance. It was then that she stumbled on a contact listed 'Nick Wilde,' the cop from earlier. Laura was tempted to press on it, but she had enough dealings with cops for one day. Plus, she'd rather not deal with another smart alec fox. One was bad enough. Besides what else could go wrong?

 _BOOM!_

Laura shot her head in the direction of the explosion. In the evening sky, she could make out the growing smoke cloud rising up with an ember glow a few blocks from where she stood. Now the part of her that wished for nothing but her own survival told her to just move on. This isn't her world. She had no business meddling in its affairs. Why bother in a world that, based on earlier encounters, would probably hate and fear her more so than her own earth? However, there was the other side that told her otherwise. The part of her that was influenced by being with the X-Men, and other heroes that she had met in the past. They would help anyone in need, regardless of how they would be perceived by society. Her father, despite his violent tendencies, spent his last years doing what he could to better the world for humans and mutants by running his own school. Laura was not willing to let her old man down, and thus bolted to the direction of the fire.

After passing by several blocks and through a few alleyways, Laura made it to the building now almost fully engulfed in flames. From the appearance of the front of the building, and what decorated it, this looked to be a floral shop of some sort. Least that was the bottom portion of the structure. The rest of it appeared to be an apartment complex. The fire was slowly but surely reaching up to turn the entire building into smoldering ash. Siren of the approaching Firefighters could be heard blaring through the distance to give their assistance. Other first responders were not too far behind and were quick to pull whatever injured mammal away from the burning building. Seeing this and the firefighters acting quickly work to put out the fire made Laura feel like she was not needed her. Perhaps it would be best to try and work on getting back to Finnick's shop.

"Wait! Let me go!"

Laura turned back to a female otter struggling against the paramedics that were trying to help her, "Ma'am you need to stay calm." said one of the paramedics.

"But my babies! My babies are still in there!" the otter exclaimed hysterically, "Please someone has to save my babies."

The paramedic tending to her assured that he would let the firefighters know of the situation. Once the otter was supplied with an oxygen mask, said paramedic left her side to fulfill the promise that was made. Once it was sure that she was alone, Laura approached to place her hand comfortably on the otter's back. The otter turned to face this stranger that stood before her. Her wild thoughts racing with questions as to the identity of this hooded figure. Could it be the ones responsible for these turn of events, and only came to gloat? Her little heart could not take such cruelness.

"Where are they?" Laura asked with the otter looking up in confusion, "Your children. Where would they be right now?"

The otter pulled off the oxygen mask to better address the hooded human, "They would be in their rooms ready for bed." she pointed to the top of the building, "We live at the top floor so that we can better care to our garden on the roof. My husband tried to get them before the fire grew to out of control." she pointed over to an unconscious male otter laid on a stretcher, "But the stairway collapsed before he could get to them." she began to cry in her paws; fearing the worst for her children.

Laura looked at the burning building once more. The fire was doing its climb up to the top floor. The firefighters would not be able to quench the flames before it reaches the highest point.

"Stay here. I'll be right back." Laura patted the confused otter's arm before running off.

Before the otter could ask, Laura was already making headway to the left side of the burning shop where the lowest fire-escape was located. The mutant girl diligently climbed up the building until she reached the top. The only issue is that the fire-escape, on this side, only went halfway up the complex. If she wished to press on from here, then Laura would have to enter the burning structure. From below many of first responders could be heard trying to coach her to come back down before she got hurt, but Laura had no fear any pain thanks to her healing factor. Without hesitation, she crashed through one of the windows next to her and continued her journey through fire.

The air inside was thick with the rising smoke filling the hall. The heat beating against her being as the flames burned through the walls and smoke coming through every crack. Laura would need to move forward if she wished to reach the fire-escape on the opposite side of the building. It would have been easy if the other front of the hall hadn't collapsed in on itself before her. She would need to make it to the top through the fire. To her luck, this section of the stairway was not blocked off by debris. However, the flames were making its crawl behind her as she ascended upwards.

As she reached the completely smoke-filled top floor, Laura heard the distinct sound of cries for help coming from one of the rooms at the end of the hall. Once she approached the door that she was sure the screams were coming from, Laura attempted to enter with no avail. The damn door was locked from the inside. Only one way in now was to claw her way through the wooden frame. Laura wasted no time in shoving her adamantium claws through the door and proceeded to cut out the door's handle and hinges. Now inside, Laura rummage through the rather bland apartment in search for the young otters. She first searched the bedrooms, but there was no sign of anyone in the bunk-bedded room. Perhaps the parent's room would hold some results, or maybe the bathroom. Try as she might the otter children were nowhere to be found. If only the smoke weren't so thick up here, then she could sniff them out instead of just running frantically around the apartment. Laura was so sure that she heard someone in here.

" _Cough! Cough!_ "

Laura shot her head in the dining room and bolted over to investigate. She gave the place a quick overview in hopes to find the source of the noise. Looking over it again she noticed the dining room table which had a large cloth over it. The mutant took her chances by removing the large fabric, and sure enough, two very young and small male otters were found hiding underneath. Laura kneeled over to pick them up only for the little children to scurry back in terror. She tried to reach her hand out to them again, but they still pushed away from her hand in whimpers. The human was beginning to become frustrated before looking over and noticing that from there they could get a good view of the door. They must've seen her clawing through the door and probably thought that she was a criminal or monster trying to get them. She needed to win the trust of these little guys if they were all going to make it out of this. So, Laura pulled back her hood to better remove her scarf to hand it to the kids.

"Here. Breath in this to protect yourselves from the smoke." the oldest of the two was hesitant to trust such a weird looking creature, but in the will to survive grabbed it to place over his younger brother's mouth. Now that she gained a small amount of their trust, Laura reached out once again, "It's okay." now Laura wasn't known for being the nurturing type. Probably had her dad's genes to thank for that, but she needed to do her best for the children, "I'll take you to your mother. I promise."

Once again, the tiny otter was hesitant to trust her. However, the promise of seeing his mother still was a very tempting proposal. After examining the smooth texture of the girl's hand, the child cautiously placed his in her palm. Laura took the opportunity to gently pull the young otter towards her with his little brother following along. Now Laura was able to get a hold of them properly and then held them both bundled up in her arms. With the children in tow, Laura wanted to exit the room and head out of the building. But the floor in the hall leading to the stairs had collapsed in on itself. The smoke was now bellowing up profusely as the fire was reaching out from the charred debris. With no other option available, Laura turned to the window behind her. An idea formed in her head as she opened it.

"Hold on tight."

As the two pups wrapped their arms tightly around her neck, Laura climbed out the window. Echoes of voices could be heard from below while she was busy getting her footing on the ledge outside. All the girl had to do now was shimmy over to the downspout to slide down from it. This was made hard when a spotlight was shined on her face as she was moving. Laura quietly cursed the idiot mammal who had the bright idea to do this at such a crucial time. She carefully continued her shimmy despite this. She will keep her promise to that mother even if it killed her, and she was awful at dying, though it seemed that fate was trying its damnedest to prove otherwise, for when was only just arm's length away from the downspout an explosion was set off somewhere inside the shop which shook her off the ledge. Luckily Laura had superb reflexes to catch the ledge with one of her free hands and cradle the little otters in the other. The sound of shocked onlookers could be heard from where she hung, but the sound Laura was more focused on was that of the frightened whimpers of the otter pups who were crying into her coat.

Another wild idea formed in the mutant's head as she extended the metal claws in her feet, and jammed them into the wall to sustain her balance for what she had planned. After calming her breath, tightening her grip on the kids, and retracting her foot claws, Laura was ready. She let go of the ledge and allowed herself to plummet to the alleyway below. The children and the onlooking crowd screamed in terror at this. But remember Laura was terrible at dying, and she was trained in escaping death-defying situations. Halfway down she popped out the claws from her free hand to jam them into the wall. Her velocity was now beginning to slow as her claws cut through the solid bricks on the way down. When she saw an opening, Laura kicked herself off the outer wall; landing on the ground and rolled until hitting the wall opposite of her. Looking down she took note of the otters in her care. Scared but at least unharmed from what she could tell.

"You both okay?"

The young otters slowly lifted their heads in sniffles but acknowledged her inquiry with collective nods. Laura was relieved to know. Getting up from a fall like that was a painful endeavor. Her back was probably out, and she probably had a fractured skull. The mutant pushed through it anyway. Her healing factor would take care of the injuries in no time. A few paramedics rushed the girl in attempts to aid in whatever injuries she may have sustained, but Laura was having none of this. She pushed through them so to reach her destination. The adult female otter was still resting on the stretcher. The otter was put off to see this pale bald girl without any garments covering her face, but more so when seeing her children bundled in the creatures' arm. Laura keeled over and, in the presences of their mother, the children leaped off so that they could cuddle up against their loved one.

With her children safe in her arms, the otter looked at the strange creature before her, "Thank you."

Laura stood there in silence. Taking in the sights of this family who at one point believed to be separated; now reunited with one another. It was almost enough to warm this mutant's heart for a bit. That was until a loud bang from an alleyway caught her attention. Something about that didn't feel right. Either way, she was going to go investigate it. Maybe that old saying of perpetrators always returning to the scene of the crime held some weight to it.

* * *

Judy raced her cruiser through the city as quick the vehicle could allow. The report of the Otterton's floral shop is the latest in attacks came to a blow to the bunny cop who was friends with the owners. Immediately she took the call and, with Nick in tow, drove to the scene to make sure her friends weren't hurt. When they arrived on the scene the fire in question had already died down to a considerable level as the firefights continued to spray the building with gallons of water from their hose. Though a good portion of it had collapsed into rubble with thick black smoke bellowing up to cover the night sky. Despite the destruction that laid before them, Judy's attention was taken by the sight of a family of otters being attended to by a group of paramedics. She quickly rushed over to check up on them.

"Mrs. Otterton, are you alright?" the bunny asked worryingly.

Mrs. Octavia Otterton removed the oxygen mask so to better address the rabbit, "We're a little shaken up officer Hopps, but thankfully we'll be okay. Thank you for asking." the motherly otter caressed her sleeping pups, "I'm just happy that my babies are safe."

"Remarkable that you were all unharmed." said Nick.

"Yeah." Octavia said as she stroked one of her son's head, "But if that girl didn't show up, my pups would not be here right now."

That caught the two cops attention.

"Girl?" Judy asked, "What girl?"

"I didn't get her name." Mrs. Otterton clarified, "She just came out of nowhere, and selflessly threw herself in the fire to get my babies. Never seen anything like her before. She was so bald around the face, and I swear I saw what looks like knifes coming from her hands." the otter stopped herself when seeing the shocked faces of the two officers, "Was it something I said?"

"Mrs. Otterton, did you see where this girl went?" Judy asked in a hurry.

"After she saved my pups, she ran off into that alleyway." the second she pointed in the direction Laura ran off to, Judy followed after to catch up with the her. This left Mrs. Otterton with an equally perplexed Nick, "You both know her?"

"No, actually we just met her today." Nick cleared up for her, "Lets just say she's a friend of a friend." from there, Nick ran off after his partner. He had a feeling that Judy's fascination with that girl would just lead them into trouble.

* * *

Laura had been stalking through the back alley in this downtown area for awhile. She was certain that the ones responsible for the fire were hiding back here. The faint scent of gasoline permeated the area and lead her deeper down. She'd be damned if she let these low lives get away.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Laura heard a familiar voice further along, "You could've gotten yourself caught going back to the scene!"

Laura quickly scurried behind a dumpster and observed these Arsonist. To her irritation, she recognized three of the four individuals from the other night: a yak, wolf and black panther. Though two of were looking worse for wear. The yak couldn't stop rubbing his side where Laura had kicked him with one of her foot claws. The panther didn't seem to fair much better. The cat kept rolling his injured left shoulder in order to loosen it up, and walked with a limp on his right hind paw. The only one who was missing was that grizzly bear whose face she carved up. However, Laura couldn't help but growl when her eyes laid on the grey-furred wolf. After he plunged that knife in her back the other day, Laura was itching to pay him back for that. How lucky for her that these guys ended up being the ones who tried to burn up that floral shop. Guess whoever they worked for didn't believe in sick days. Another dose of luck was the fourth member in their group, a twitchy looking European goat with a burn mark across the left side of his face, had wished to admire their work.

"Can't help it Johnny." the goat addressed the panther with a raspy voice, "I just love seeing such a blazing sight. To see how the flames grow and consumes everything in its glorious path." he continued as he rubbed the scruff around his neck in ecstasy, "Its just so exhilarating."

"Leave it us to get stuck with the pyromaniac." the wolf commented to the yak next to him.

"All I care about is that the boss will have our heads if even one more screw-up were to take place." said the panther, now identified as Johnny.

"Fine, fine." said the goat, "Wasn't that much fun anyway, after this weird looking creature showed up, and acted like a big hero."

"Creature?" said the wolf starting to show fear in his voice, "What kind of creature?"

"Calm down…" the yak whispered along with something else that was too soft for Laura to hear, "Didn't you kill that thing just the other day?"

The wolf rubbed the back of his head as he laughed nervously, "Yeah. There's no way it could be the same one."

"Don't bet on it." Laura had made herself known as she emerged from the shadows. This made three of the four mammals back away in shock; the wolf especially trembled in terror, "Did you boys miss me?"

Not seeing why his fellow comrades were so intimidated, and not really caring, the European goat pulled out a small pistol and shot the girl through the chest. Laura just fell to the ground with a hard thud. The goat walked closer to give her foot a few taps to get a responses. Becoming satisfied when she remained motionless.

"Doesn't seem so tough as it is ugly."

"You idiot!" Johnny rushed over and snatched the gun away from the goat, "Someone could've heard that. Are you deliberately trying to get us caught?" the goat just gave him a blank stare, "Just go get the car so we can get out of here." The European goat complied and ran off. Johnny and the yak were ready to follow after, but stopped when seeing their wolf compatriot was still in shock, "You gonna be okay buddy?"

It took a moment for the wolf to snap out of it, "Yeah. I just need a moment is all." with that his two comrades left him to get his thoughts together. He took one last look over the fallen human in front of him before turning to pull out a cigarettes to calm his nerves, "The boss is going to kill me when he hears about this."

"Not if I kill you first."

Before the wolf could react, he was grabbed from behind and turned to face a now standing Laura. The mutant wasted no time in throwing the canine into the alley wall. Whether it was out of survival instincts or foolishness, the wolf charged the girl with the intent to slug her. Laura dodged it easily and proceeded to knee the wolf in the stomach. As the wind was kicked out of him, Laura gave the wolf one nasty left hook which caused the canine to tumble to the floor with only trash cans and bags breaking his fall. Looking back up, the wolf saw how there was a bullet hole on her shirt, or more importantly that there was no signs of a bullet ever going through her chest.

"What are you?" the wolf asked with his voice trembling, "Some kind of vengeful demon from hell?"

"Sorry he's not here, but you'll wish he was!" Laura exclaimed as she popped the claws from her left hand and jammed them just below the wolf's ribcage. The canine let out a pain-filled howl until the girl removed her now blood-soaked claws, "That was for severing my spine." she then grabbed him around the neck, and aimed her claws at his head, "This is for setting that shop on fire!"

"Freeze!"

Laura ceased her assault to face who dared to stop her. From her left, she was faced with two familiar cops aiming their tranquilizer pistols right at her. Both Judy and Nick had rushed through the alleyway after hearing the gunshot from earlier and were utterly distraught when witnessing the mutant ready to plunge her claws into the wolf's skull.

"Don't try to stop me!" Laura exclaimed still ready to commit to her act.

"Kid put the knives back into your hand, and step away from the wolf." said Nick.

"This scumbag deserves it!" Laura proclaimed, "He was one of the guys who set that building on fire!"

"Ms. Kinny please." Judy stepped in as she holstered her weapon, "I don't know how they handle things where you come from, but this isn't how we do things here. If you kill him then you will be making things more difficult for not just yourself, but for so many others as well. This wolf is only a small part of a larger scheme that is going on that we're investigating. He's the only suspect we've ever been able to come across. If you kill him, you'll not only be setting our investigation back, but we'll have to throw you behind bars for murder. You have any idea how that'll effect Finnick once he hears you've been locked up? If you kill him, you'll only be making things worse for so many mammals."

Laura remained still from there. Sure, she didn't know the tiny fox for very long, but just the thought of letting him down after all the kindness he had shown her despite her mutant heritage. He gave her a job and a roof over her head. Sure, they both have had their quills, but the last things she would want was to see him looking at her in disappointment. So, to Judy's relief, Laura's claws slowly retracted back into her hand. Seemed almost perfect until a canister was tossed their way and ignited into a blinding flash of light. A flashbang had erupted in their faces with full effect as they shielded their eyes one moment too late. As Laura was completely blind, she felt the butt of a rifle make contact with her face which knocked her off the wolf. The second her eye sight came back did she notice that the wolf was long gone, and the sound of a van could be heard blaring by. To say that Laura wasn't pleased would be an understatement.

"I had him." she muttered to herself.

"Well, Carrots you're gonna have to call this in." said Nick as he elbowed his partner, "I mean I would do it, but I think the Chief would be in enough of a bad mood after he hears we came so close to nabbing the perp without it coming from my voice."

Judy was not paying the fox much mind. Instead focused on the girl who was growing in frustration, "Laura I…"

"I had him!" Laura cut off the rabbit, "You." she pointed at the rabbit cop who backed away ever so slightly, "It's your fault he got away. You distracted me. Made me put my guard down."

"Me?!" Judy felt insulted by such a statement, "I just stopped you from making the biggest mistake of your life. You could've seriously jeopardized our entire investigation…"

"I don't give a damn about your 'investigation' _rabbit_!" Laura exclaimed, "I could've ended it all with one blow to his head."

"Yeah…because the entire operation of a mob will be thrown out of whack from the death of one small-time wolf." Nick sarcastically rebuttal, "You didn't think this whole thing through Pinky."

Laura growled when hearing that nickname again, "Just stay out of my way."

Laura was ready to turn and leave. After such a long and stressful day, she was more than ready to get back to the thrift shop and call it a day. Especially if it meant getting away from those two irritating cops. She could hear them now trying to either call her back or to not go after those criminals. She had little to no intention of making any promises on the latter. Judy and Nick were about to call in what had happened before them.

" _This is Dispatch to all available units._ " officer Clawhauser's was heard through their radios, " _We've had a break-in at the shop on 24_ _th_ _of Lister Ln._ "

"24th." Judy repeated, "That's where Finnick's shop is located." Laura stopped dead in her tracks when she heard that.

" _Repeat: the owner is reported to be injured._ "

Judy cusped her hands over her mouth in shock when hearing that. Laura was frozen in stunned silence. The thought of one of her only friends in this world being injured by some random thug sent forth a ripple of emotions. The main one being a deep seething rage. If Finnick was truly injured, she vowed one thing. To find and catch the son of a bitch who was responsible.

* * *

 _Unknown warehouse_

" _And we are back with the recent in fires that have been devastating the city._ " said Peter Moosebridge as the cameras cut to a female antelope.

" _Thank you Peter._ " said the antelope, " _I'm currently standing in front of the remains that was once a floral shop/apartment complex located downtown. What is suspected to be another victim in this string of arsons plaguing the city. However, not all of it has been devastating. As what could best be described as an act of heroism when one pedestrian ran into the fire to rescue two otter pups, has rocked the neighborhood._ " immediately the image on screen cut to an amateur video of a smartphone catching the heroic act in question. That of a mysterious hooded figure sliding down the building with the pups in tow, " _No identity of this Samaritan is yet known. Now I'm with both the parents and owners of the shop that was_ hit." The camera panned over to the Mr. and Mrs. Otterton who were looking much better than earlier, " _Please, tell us about what was going through your minds when this all accord._ "

" _Well, I'll say that it was just a horrifying thing to experience._ " said Emmitt Otterton, " _I've never felt more helpless than when I wasn't able to get my pups out._ "

" _I'm just happy that this mysterious individual was here when they were._ " Emmitt's wife, Octavia Otterton jumped in, " _I just wish to thank them wherever they are right now. It really shows that no matter what horrible things come our way that there's still those in our community willing to lend a helping paw. I only hope that this is a sign that things will start to get bette…_ "

The television was then turned off by the tiger who stood upright in his office. He had hoped to come back to his base of operation with a modicum of success compared to the night before, but instead, this was what he got. A moment that was supposed to set the city in a state of fear, and a message to his rival, was now being used as a sign of hope and relief to his fellow Zootopians. The massive feline turned to face three of his subordinates that were meant to take care of all of this. One of which he learned was sent to receive medical attention. Although his face was blank, the three other mammals could see the tiger's nostrils flare up. It was clear that their boss was doing everything in his power to keep himself calm.

"Does anyone wish to add anything to that?" their boss asked.

It took all the courage the European goat to speak up, "Well there was this creature who…"

His words were silenced when the tiger grabbed the goat by the neck and lifted him in to eye level. The boss growled in frustration with his teeth bared at the goat. If it wasn't clear he was angry before, it was defiantly clear now.

"What _creature_!?"

 **End of Chapter 5**

 **A/N:** Well, this one sure took some time to write. Anyway, the action will be raving up with both Laura and the Tiger Boss now out for each others blood. How will Judy and Nick be able to prevent their city from being painted red? Well, you'll have to wait till next time.


End file.
